


Twisting Fate

by Riddle_of_the_sphinx



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Arkham (Video Games), DCU
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Bat Family, Edward has lines even he won't cross, Edward loves riddles, Everyone Has Issues, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason grows to like riddles, M/M, Nicer Edward Nygma, Past Child Abuse, Riddler becoming a good guy, Riddler joining the Bat Family, Riddler reforming, Riddles, Saving Jason Todd, creating a family, parental Edward Nygma, rather he likes it or not, younger Barbara Gordon, younger Jason Todd, younger Tim Drake
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 04:50:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6551767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riddle_of_the_sphinx/pseuds/Riddle_of_the_sphinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing stays hidden from the Riddler for long, and the Robin that Joker is keeping hidden in Arkham is no exception. Edward can’t stand child abuse, and Robin is definitely a child being abused. So the Riddler does what he never thought he would do. He saves Robin, and that one action will change his life in ways that he never expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. To save a caged bird

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be posting this story up on my Fanfiction account Jet Set Radio Yoyo as well so you'll be seeing this story there under that name.

The Riddler was always a sort of unofficial information broker among Batman’s rouges. Nothing could stay hidden from him. No dirty deal could be made without him hearing about it, no dark family skeletons could stay locked away in the closet, and any secret alliance that was formed among the villains never stayed a secret from him for long. There was no mystery that he could not solve. Edward was a master of conundrums, and mysteries were just conundrums wrapped in enigmas. The only mystery he had yet to solve was the mystery of Batman’s identity. That was a greatest riddle of them all, but it was a riddle that he would solve eventually it was only a matter of time.

Anyway, most people seemed to refuse to acknowledge the Riddler’s talent for uncovering the truth. Well, maybe that wasn’t completely true. The small time crooks of Gotham knew of his talent of dragging everyone’s dirty secret out into the light. The various crime families of Gotham knew that if they paid him enough he could dish out some dirt on their enemies plans. Hell, to some extant Black Mask was slowly catching on to the fact that the Riddler could tell him all sorts of juicy information if he pays the right price.

The rest of Batman’s rouge gallery underestimated him though. They refused to acknowledge just how much the Riddler knew, and just how good he was at uncovering everything that they had to hide. They also seemed to refuse to even realize that the Riddler would uncover their plans and secrets just for fun most of the time. As far as the rest of the super villains were concerned the Riddler was just an annoying childish mental patient who could come up with a few good plans to rob banks or do some other criminal thing. They never seemed to consider the fact that the Riddler could be a wealth of information. That was fine with the Riddler. He only shared what he uncovered to people who proved themselves worthy by solving his puzzles and riddles or by paying him rather handsomely.

The other criminals had yet to prove themselves, and Riddler knew from experience that most of the other criminals could be rather stingy when it came to paying for things. They were all fools, and the Joker was the biggest fool of them all for thinking that he could keep whatever the heck it was that he had in Arkham Asylum secret from the Riddler. The Riddler did have to give him credit through. Arkham Asylum was a pretty great place to hide something if you really don’t want it to be found. No one would expect a villain to hide something in Arkham Asylum of all places, and Arkham had more secret passages and hidden rooms then it had patients and Arkham had a lot of patients. Also, if Edward was being honest the only reason why he spotted the Joker was because the Riddler had been escaping from Arkham Asylum and just happened to spot the clown prince as he was working his way through the old tunnel system of Arkham.

Joker hadn’t seen him, but Riddler spotted him lugging a huge bulky movie camera along with him. Where he got it Riddler had no idea, but his best bet was that Joker stole it from Panessa Studios. Joker disappeared down a tunnel that would lead him into what Riddler liked to call the old Arkham. It was the old parts of Arkham that were built over when they rebuilt Arkham Asylum or bricked away to forget that they even existed. What Joker wanted to do with the camera down in that old place he didn’t know, but Riddler’s curiosity had been captured. Riddler continued with his escape plan, but a few weeks later he returned to the dusty tunnels with some mini cameras and quickly set them up in the tunnels. He didn’t dare go down the path that would lead him to the Joker’s little hidden area yet.

The Joker hadn’t been heard from for a while which made the Riddler believe that he was most likely down there doing only God knows what. So once his cameras were set up the Riddler turned right around and left the Asylum. After that Riddler kept an eye on the video feed and would make notes of when Joker would come and go and what he would bring with him when he went down to his little hidey-hole. The things that Joker would bring down with him were almost always random and all rather strange. One day he brought a large roll of barbed wire down there. Two days later he brought some chains down. One weekend he spent his whole Saturday bringing down computer monitors and TVs. Yesterday the Joker brought a handheld camera and a laptop down with him. 

Honestly, Riddler didn’t know what he was planning on doing with all of that. What Riddler did know was that he was dying to know what was going on, and that he had a bad feeling about all of this. Why this whole thing was making him feel on edge he didn’t know. It didn’t affect him personally and Riddler knew that Joker was unaware of the fact that the Riddler was watching. Still, he just felt uneasy about the whole thing. Regardless, while Riddler didn’t know what to do about his uneasy feeling he did know how to fulfill his own curiosity. 

Joker had brought down cameras and a computer down there with him so if Riddler was lucky then maybe he could had the cameras hooked up in such a way that he could hack it. If nothing else maybe the Joker had some footage on his laptop that Riddler could watch to get a clue as to what was going on. Riddler decided to give the whole hacking thing a try when he saw the Joker disappear down into his secret hideout in Arkham Asylum with some branding iron in hand. It took some digging to find the Joker’s signal. It was hidden rather well, and it took a while to pinpoint it among all of the other signals that were coming from Arkham Asylum. It was also password protected, but Joker was painfully uncreative when it came to passwords so all Riddler needed to do was type in the word _‘Jester’_ and with that he was in.

The Joker seemed to be recording something now, and luckily for the Riddler he was able to access that video feed and turn it on so that he could get front row seats to whatever the heck it was that Joker was doing. Riddler didn’t know what to expect when he opened the video feed, but what he didn’t expect to see was Robin tied to a hook that was hanging overhead. To be specific it was the second Robin, and he looked like he had been through hell. The boy was a bloody mess. He was hanging from his wrists, and his wrists were covered in rope buns. Barbed wire had been wrapped around his body like Christmas lights wrapped around a tree, and the metal was digging into his skin. He was covered in burns, and the knife wounds that decorated his body were deep and not pretty to look at. Blood ran down his body like water droplets, and they fell to the ground like rain. A small puddle of blood decorated the floor below Robin, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the blood all came from Robin. 

“Oh, Robin are you ready for another day of fun?” The Joker practically sang out. 

Robin flinched and Riddler could swear that he heard the kid whimper a little. The Riddler was sure that Robin would have curled up into a ball if he could. Riddler didn’t know how to react to this. The Riddler shouldn’t care about what happened to Robin. Robin was the Bat’s sidekick, and Riddler had been punched in the face plenty of times by Robin. The Riddler shouldn’t have cared about what happened to the kid, but Edward cared. Edward cared a lot. Robin was just a child. Robin had to have been around eleven or so when he started the whole Robin thing, and right now he should have been around thirteen or fourteen. He was a child. A child that wasn’t even old enough to drive. He should be worrying about school right now. He shouldn’t be trapped in a dark dank room being tortured by the Joker. 

Edward didn’t like seeing kids getting abused. It made him think way too much about his miserable childhood with his abusive father. He had to live with that, and he hated seeing kids being hurt or abused in similar ways. Even if those kids worked with the damn Bat. Edward was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Joker start to approach Robin with a red hot branding iron.

“Good news kid. I’m getting a gift made just for you. It’s a branding iron that’s going to be in the shape of a J!” Joker said cheerfully. “I’m going to use it on you so that everyone will know that you are the sidekick of good ol’ Mister J!” 

Joker waved the iron that he was holding around as he said “However, until my gift comes in the mail I figured I could use this as practice. Practice makes perfect after all, and I don’t want to screw up making the mark.”

“N-no!” Robin cried out weekly as Joker approached him. 

Joker just ignored him as he pressed the hot metal to Robin’s bare skin. The loud scream that Robin let out was heart wrenching, and it made Edward feel a little sick to his stomach. Not helping matters was the fact that hanging on the walls all around the room was monitors showing Robin’s torture in real time. No matter which way Robin looked he was forced to watch the Joker torture him on a bunch of huge screens. 

“Hmm, I don’t think that mark turned out very well. Let’s try it again shall we?” Joker said as he pressed the red hot metal onto a new patch of skin.

Robin let out a loud cry of pain, and Edward couldn’t look away. It was like watching a horrible train wreck. 

_‘What are you going to do about this?’_ A small voice in Edward’s head asked as he watched Robin cry out. _‘What are you going to do?’_

Edward didn’t know. For once in his life he didn’t know what to do. The second Robin had been missing for almost a whole year now. Edward had always assumed that the second Robin had retired or quit. Hell, he even thought that maybe Batman had fired him or something. It was clear now that the second Robin had never quit. He had been captured by the Joker and locked away in the bowels of Arkham to be tortured by a mad clown. 

Did Batman know about this? Was Batman looking for the second Robin? Did Batman even care? A new Robin took the second Robin’s place not too long ago so Edward honestly didn’t know. Another loud cry broke the silence in the Riddler’s hideout, and Edward cringed. 

_‘Are you going to leave him there to suffer?’_ A voice in his head asked. _‘Are you going to be like every other idiotic adult and just ignore the abuse of a child?’_

Edward clenched his hands into fists at that thought. The only thing that he hated more than his father was all of the people who knew that his father was abusing him and just turned a blind eye to it. His mother had been the biggest offender in that department, and he hated her almost as much as he hated his dad. 

Another loud cry filled his room while that small little voice in his head quietly asked once again _‘What are you going to do?’_

What was Edward going to do? Edward was going to do something that he never thought he would do. Edward was going to save a Robin…. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Edward hated Arkham Asylum with the intensity of a thousand suns. The guards were idiots, the psychologists were bigger idiots, and most of the inmates were annoying. Arkham Asylum looked more like a collection of abandoned buildings then some highly advanced Asylum that Warden Sharp kept trying to advertise it as. Also, there was always something off about Arkham Asylum. What it was Edward had no idea, but the whole place made his skin crawl. He knew for a fact that being forced to stay there for any amount of time drove him crazy. 

As far as Edward was concerned you didn’t go to Arkham Asylum to get better you went there to get worse. The fact that the second Robin was forced to stay here for almost a full year was almost chilling. The longest Edward had ever stayed in Arkham Asylum was about three weeks. The thought of having to stay in Arkham Asylum for a full year made Edward cringe at the very idea of it. Edward shook away these thoughts as he walked down the tunnel that would lead him to where the second Robin was waiting. At the end of the tunnel was a small metal door, but a quick twist of the handle showed that it wasn’t locked. 

_‘Joker didn’t even bother to lock up the room?’_ Edward thought in slight surprise. _‘Either he’s confident that no one would find this place, or he doesn’t care if Robin is found or not.’_

Edward just shook his head as he slowly opened the door. Honestly, he shouldn’t think too deeply about this. The door being unlocked just meant that he wouldn’t have to blow it down with bombs. Upon opening the door he immediately spotted Robin in the middle of the room. He was still hanging from that hook wrapped in barbed wire. The boy slowly lifted his head and upon spotting Edward his eyes grew wide. Edward took a single step inside which caused the boy to whimper. Edward lifted his hands up to show that he was unarmed and was not here to hurt him. 

“Hey, it’s OK I’m not here to hurt you.” Edward said softly as he slowly walked over toward Robin. 

Robin looked at him in disbelief, but didn’t make another sound as Edward slowly approached. Once he was close enough Edward slowly slid his backpack off of his back and placed it on the ground. The boy's eyes drifted down to the bag only to shoot right back up to Edward. The look Robin was giving Edward seemed to tell the man that he thought that their was something bad in the bag. Considering the type of things that Joker brought in here to use on him Edward couldn't blame the kid for immediately thinking that there was nothing good in the backpack. 

“Before I let you down I’m going to get the barbed wire off of you. I’m going to use some wire cutters to do so, and it’s going to hurt a little.” Edward explained slowly as he unzipped his bag.

The boy said nothing he just continued to stare at Edward as the man pulled his wire cutters out of his bag.

“I’m going to start cutting the wires now.” Edward told him all while hoping that telling the kid everything that he was about to do would give him at least some comfort. 

Again the boy said nothing. He just continued to watch him with wide untrusting eyes. Edward gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile before he went to work. The sound of the metal being cut away seemed to echo throughout the room as Edward slowly snipped away at the barbed wire. The boy winched a little every now and then when Edward pulled the sharp bits of metal that had become lodged into his skin out, but other than that the boy made no other movements. Luckily, the boy wasn’t wrapped up with too much wire so it didn’t take long to get it off. 

Once that was done Edward tossed the wire into a random corner of the room and dumped his wire cutters into his bag before he said “I’m going to untie you now.” 

The boy looked hopeful upon hearing that, but again he said nothing. Edward reached up and started to work on getting the rope untied. It took a while, but he was able to get all of the knots untied. The second the ropes were no longer holding him up the boy started to fall toward Edward. Edward let the rope fall to the floor as he quickly caught the child before he fell onto the ground face first. Edward slowly lowered himself and the boy down to the ground and tried his best to ignore the disgusting feeling of the wet blood slowly seeping into his clothing. 

“I’m going to wrap up the worst of your wounds now, but when we get out of here and back to my hideout I’ll treat all of your wounds.” Edward told the boy as he pulled some bandages out of his backpack. 

This time the boy slowly nodded his head to show that he understood. Edward paused for a second amazed that he got a response from the boy, but he quickly shoved his surprise to the side as he went to work patching the boy up. Edward was able to patch up the wounds that were beading heavily, and while he wanted to treat all of the kid’s wounds right now he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t safe here. The Joker could come back at any moment and Edward wasn’t going to risk getting caught. Besides, he didn’t have everything that he needed to treat all of the kids wounds here. For now he could just take care of the worst of it. 

Once Edward was done patching the kid up he said “I’m going to check and make sure that the idiotic court jester doesn’t have any security cameras set up to record this. Once I’m done we will leave.” 

The boy nodded before he slowly curled up into the fetal position. Edward gave him a quick smile before he quickly checked the area over. He probably should have done this before he started to take care of Robin, but honestly it was starting to look like it didn’t matter. There were no hidden cameras set up in the room, no secret recording equipment hidden away in some corner, and even the recording equipment that was out in the open was turned off. There was no security to speak of which surprised Edward greatly, but he didn’t think about it too deeply. 

He could think about it when they were at his hideout safe and sound. For now Edward had to focus on getting them out of this hellhole. Edward grabbed his bag and quickly slipped it on before he knelt down beside the second Robin. 

“I’m going to pick you up now.” Edward told him. 

The boy nodded, and that was all the blue eyed man needed to see. He slowly picked the boy up so that he was holding him bridal style before he turned and quickly left the room. The boy was incredibly light. He was too light in fact. Joker must have been giving the kid enough food and water to survive, but it was clear to Edward that Joker was probably just giving him the bare minimal amount of food that he needed to survive. The second they were out of the room and in the tunnel system the boy seemed to slump a little in Edward’s arms. 

It was as if being out of the room was enough to calm the child. Not that Edward could blame him. After being in that small room for so long the kid probably thought he would never get to leave it. As he walked Edward noticed that the kid’s arms were trembling a little. It almost looked like he wanted to lift his arms up, but didn’t have the strength to do so. Whatever the kid was trying to do he must have eventually decided against it because he let out a small sigh as he laid his head down against Edward’s chest. 

“Thank you.” The boy croaked out.

His voice was raspy and quiet which was the complete opposite of the cocky strong voice that Edward was used to. However, even though it was week sounding that small thanks was the most genuine heartfelt thanks that Edward had ever received in his life. 

Edward just gave the kid a small smile as he said “You’re welcome Robin.” 

Robin gave him a small genuine smile upon hearing Edward actually use his name instead of just calling him birdbrain or something like that. It was rather nice to see, and Edward was almost relived to see that the kid was still capable of smiling. Edward didn’t know what he would do with the kid once he got him to his hideout. He also didn’t know what the repercussions of saving Robin from the Joker would be. However, hearing that week thanks and getting a genuine smile to go along with it made it hard for Edward to regret saving Robin. 

Dealing with the aftermath of all of this was going to be a pain, but right now he didn’t care. He just saved a kid from being tortured some more by a mad clown. He saved a child from having to face more abuse. He did the one thing that the adults in his life never did for him when he was a child. He did the one thing that his damn mother could never do. In his own head that made him better than them. That made him better than his worthless mother. That alone made this whole thing worth it….


	2. It's going to be a long night

When Edward gets to the hideout that he was currently staying at he gently placed the second Robin down on his bed. The kid is still bleeding, and his blood starts to stain Edward’s green sheets. He’s going to have to strip the sheets off of the bed and replace them with some clean ones once this is all over. The second Robin is still wide awake and watches as Edward gathered up all of the medical supplies that he would need. Edward had set them out ahead of time so he wouldn’t have to waste time finding it all. He sets everything down on the bedside table before he grabs his wheeled office chair that was at his computer desk and pulls it over to the bed. Once it was at the bedside Edward sat down and started gathering up the tools that he would need to stitch up the kid’s wounds.

“I’m going to stitch up your wounds now.” Edward said. “If you are wondering I have plenty of experience stitching wounds. I had to learn how just to deal with the cuts that I would get from those damn batarangs.”

“I wasn’t wondering…” The kid murmurs.

“I’ll have to check you for breaks too. Have to make sure you don’t have a broken rib rattling around in you.” Edward said.

He really hoped the kid didn’t have any broken or cracked bones. Edward could take care of most injuries, but broken bones were the one thing that he couldn’t treat. He would have to bring the kid to a hospital if he did have broken bones, and figuring out how to drop him off without getting caught would be a pain. 

“Don’t have any broken bones. Joker preferred stabbing, cutting, and…” The boy started to say only to trail off.

Edward could have sworn he heard the boy mumble the word ‘burning’ which made Edward cringe a little. He really didn’t need a reminder of seeing the Joker use a branding iron on the kid over and over again. Edward was no saint. He had caused plenty of pain during his time as the Riddler, but what Joker did was pretty extreme even to him. Edward said nothing as he set to work stitching up the kid’s wounds. 

The boy winched a little when Edward first started to stitch him up, but that one little winch was the only reaction that Edward saw. If being stitched up bothered him at all he sure as heck wasn’t showing it. Edward didn’t know if he was able to soldier through it because he got used to hiding his pain as a crime fighter, if being tortured by Joker for about a year made it so that he was more resilient to some pains, or if it was a combination of things. In a way Edward really didn’t want to know. 

Edward was quick and efficient as he stitched up the kid’s wounds. It didn’t take him long at all, and once he was done with that he went to work treating and wrapping up the rest of the kid’s wounds. The boy didn’t say a word as he watched Edward work, and Edward didn’t say anything either. The silence was a comfortable one that was only broken by the sound of Edward dropping something onto the bedside table every once in a while so he could pick something else up.

As Edward worked on wrapping the wounds he could see the small x shapes burned into the boy’s skin in various areas. They had healed for the most part, but they still looked a little raw. There was no doubt in Edward’s mind that marks would be on his skin for the rest of his life. The kid was stuck with a permanent visible reminder of his year of torture. Edward supposed the silver lining in all of this was the fact that they were small, there were only ten, and they were easily covered up with clothing. Not much of a silver lining, but it was something. Once Edward was done he leaned back slightly to admire his handiwork. The kid was almost wrapped from head to toe in white bandages.

“You look like you’re wearing a really bad mummy costume.” Edward commented. 

The kid’s mouth twitched up into a small smile which caused Edward to smile a little as well. It was nice to see that the kid was still capable of smiling even after what he went through. 

“Not my fault your bandaging skills suck.” The kid said.

“What are you talking about my bandaging skills are amazing.” Edward said with a smirk.

The kid chuckles a little upon hearing that. It’s a week soft chuckle that only lasted for a few seconds at most, but the fact that the kid could laugh at all was nothing short of amazing. Since he's done bandaging the kid Edward gets up from his seat and pushes it closer to the bed.

“I need to move you to the seat so I can get the sheets off of the bed and put some clean ones on.” Edward said. 

The kid nodded before he slowly started to move himself over to the chair. Edward moved to help him, but the kid just waved his hand in a way that told Edward that he wanted to do this on his own. Edward had the chair pressed up against the bed so all the kid had to do was shift himself over a bit and he would be in the chair. No standing or walking required. Since he didn’t need to move much Edward decided that he wouldn’t force the kid to accept his help. The kid plopped down in the chair while Edward walked over to the closet and started to pull out some new bed sheets. Of course the kid immediately noticed that the sheets were a nice dark green color.

“Is everything that you own green?” The kid asked with a slight smile. 

“Hey, it’s my favorite color. I have some purple sheets too if you would prefer that instead.” Edward said as he walked toward the bed with the sheets in his arms. 

“Green is fine, but I much prefer red or black.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Edward said as he started to make the bed. 

He finished the job rather quickly, and once he was done he sat down on the bed in front of the kid. The kid stared at Edward with a mixture of emotions on his face. He looked confused, curious, and he seemed to be studying Edward as if that would somehow help him figure out why the Riddler of all people came to his rescue. 

“You have questions.” Edward stated. 

The kid nodded before he asked “Are you going to answer them?”

“I’m usually the one asking the questions, but tonight I’ll answer any questions that you have.” Edward tells him.

The kid nods as starts to think of what to ask first. The kid seemed to struggle to think of what to ask first. It was like he had so many questions bubbling up inside of him, and no question was more important than the other. He hungered for answers, but none of them seemed to be able to make it to his mouth. Edward could understand the feeling. Edward was always full of questions. He had been like that since he was old enough to talk. Edward wanted answers to everything, and if there was one thing that he hated it was not having answers. Eventually the kid finally settles on a question and opens his mouth to finally speak. 

“Did Batman…?” He starts to say only to stop. 

The boy looks hesitant to continue, and Edward’s mind races to fill in the blank. Did Batman what? Did Batman bother to look for me? Did Batman seem upset at all that I wasn’t there? 

Edward’s mind probably could have continued coming up with possible questions for a while, but the kid stops Edward’s train of thought when he finally asks “Did Batman really replace me with another Robin?”

 _‘I should have figured that could be the first question.’_ Edward thought.

He didn’t know if the second Robin knew that there was now a new Robin running around Gotham, but thinking back on it now maybe he should have known. Joker would probably mock the second Robin about it and claim that Batman just replaced him the second he was gone. That wasn’t exactly true. Batman went almost a full year without a Robin. It was a pretty long time, but it didn’t change the fact that Batman did end up replacing him with a new Robin. Edward wasn’t sure how to answer the question. He didn’t want to be blasé about it and say 'Yes, Batman replaced you'. 

Ed wasn’t the best with social interactions, but even he knew that saying it like that would be cruel. Yet, at the same time Edward didn’t and honestly couldn’t really sugar coat this and make it sound any better than what it was. Edward runs his hand through his hair and sighs. 

“He has a new Robin.” Edward eventually mutters out just loudly enough that the second Robin can hear him. 

The second Robin looked crushed upon hearing that. The kid looked like Batman had actually stabbed him in the back. Maybe in a way Batman sort of did. Edward can feel another sigh trying to work its way out, but he beats it back. The kid really didn’t need to hear him sighing left and right like some sort of mopey teenager. If anyone deserved to be mopey right now it was the kid wearing a domino mask.

“If it helps any Batman waited almost a full year before he got another Robin.” Edward says in some vain attempt to make the kid feel a bit better.

As Edward expected his words did absolutely nothing to make the kid feel better. The kid just continues to stare at him with a depressed look on his face. 

Although, now there was a hint of a questioning on his face that seems to ask _‘Did you really think that would make me feel better?’_

Truthfully, he wasn’t really expecting those words to help out much. At best it was a shitty consolation prize. Like congrats Batman actually bothered to wait a few months before replacing your ass. Edward runs his hand down his face and allows himself to mentally sigh. Honestly, he was floundering here. Edward never dealt with kids much, and trying to comfort someone was a field that Edward was woefully inexperienced in. Edward shoves his thoughts about his subpar social skills to the dark recesses of his mind and focuses his attention back onto Robin. 

“Any other questions?” Edward asks all while desperately hoping that the kid won’t keep them stuck on this question for eternity.

“What’s he like?” The boy asks. 

Edward can’t help but mentally sigh upon hearing that. It figures the kid wouldn’t be able to move away from the subject of the other Robin easily. Edward thinks about the question for a few minutes before he shrugs.

“I don’t know. The kid doesn’t exactly drop by Arkham to have tea time with me and tell me about himself.” Edward says.

The kid is giving him a blank look and Ed gets the sinking suspicion that the kid won’t let this question go until Edward gives him something to go on. 

“He was able to answer a few of my riddles so he’s a bit smarter than most of the brain dead people who occupy Gotham.” Edward offered. “He doesn’t joke as much as the first one did, and he doesn’t punch as hard as you did.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on the second Robin’s face upon hearing the punching bit, but it vanished so fast that Edward thought it was possible that he had just imagined it. Mercifully, the second Robin decided to move away from the Robin topic and instead decided to ask a different kind of question. 

“How did you find me?” He asked. 

Edward wished he could lie and say that he found him thanks to his intelligence. That he was able to do the one thing that Batman couldn’t do. However, Edward couldn’t do that. Edward wouldn’t do that. This kid needed the complete truth. Not one of his half-truths or the truth wrapped up in a riddle. 

Aware that he was being silent long enough to make the kid look a bit nervous Edward finally said “I found you due to pure dumb luck.”

The boy blinks a few times in confusion as he tilts his head slightly to the side like a puppy that just heard a strange noise. He seemed to be surprised that Edward would admit to the fact that he just happened to stumble upon the kid by pure chance. Edward was willing to leave it at that and not say anything else, but there was no way that the kid would be completely satisfied with that answer. The need to know more shined in the kid’s eyes. The hunger for more information was obvious on this kid’s face. Edward could spot looks like that with ease. The need for information was one that he was real familiar with.

“I was escaping from Arkham by using the old tunnel system that’s under the Arkham Mansion building. While I was doing so I happened to spot Joker lugging a camera into some side room.” Edward said.

The kid seemed to shrink down slightly into his seat upon hearing Joker’s name. Edward wondered if he should stop there, but the kid wasn’t saying to stop so Edward kept talking. 

“I had no idea what Joker was doing, and since I was in the middle of escaping I couldn’t investigate. I left, but returned with a couple of cameras that I set up in the tunnels so that I could monitor what he was doing.”

“Why did you do that?” The boy asked softly. 

“I did it to satisfy my curiosity. I had to know what he was doing.” Edward answered. “I don’t like not knowing things.” 

Edward tapped his fingers down against the bed as he said “I monitored him for a while and watched him bring a bunch of random things into that room of his.”

He looked right into the boy’s eyes as he said “After he brought in a laptop and enough cameras to fill a bathtub and I knew he was in I checked to see if I could find his signal. I found it, and I saw enough to know that I needed to get you out.” The kid was digging his nails into the armrest of his chair now. He was utterly silent as he stared down at the floor. Edward stayed silent and just stared at the kid. He didn’t try to get the kid to talk or end the question and answer session. He just waited for the kid to continue.

Edward jumped a little when he heard the boy ask suddenly gasped out “Why?”

Edward blinked and didn’t say a word as he watched the kid try to compose himself. He wasn’t crying, but he was shaking a little. He had his nails dug so deeply into the armrest of the chair that Edward was sure that the faux leather would have permanent claw marks on it now. 

“Why were you able to find me, but Batman couldn’t find me?!” The boy asked in the loudest tone that Edward had heard from the kid today.

He sounded almost furious as he asked that question. 

Without even thinking Edward said “Maybe Batman isn’t as great of a detective as everyone thinks he is.” 

The kid gave him a rather hurt look upon hearing that, and Edward immediately starts to mentally kick himself for even saying that.

_‘Great job genius. That’s a wonderful thing to say to the traumatized kid who looks up to Batman.’_ Edward thought sarcastically. 

Edward ran his hand through his hair and said “Look I ran across you by pure chance. It was luck that I found you, and truthfully Arkham really is the last place anyone would check to see if a super villain hid something important there.” 

The kid calmed slightly, but he still didn’t seem happy with the answer. 

“We spend our time at Arkham trying to figure out how to get out. I can’t speak for everyone, but to me Arkham Asylum is hell on earth so the idea of going there of your own free will to use it as a hidden base is insane to me.” Edward added. “I don’t think anyone would expect a criminal to keep a base at a place that is crawling with guards.”

The kid still didn’t look satisfied with Edward’s answer.

“Kid, I can’t give you a better answer then that.” Edward said. 

He was tempted to say that it was a question that only Batman could really answer, but he kept that comment to himself. They hadn’t exactly hammered out just what in the hell they going to do about Batman yet, and it was way too late in the night to be having a discussion about what they should do now. Truthfully Edward really wasn’t in the mood to deal with it right now anyway. He was barely in the mood to deal with the questioning session. 

“Any other questions?” Edward asked. 

“Why did you save me?”

“I can’t stand seeing kids being beaten within an inch of their lives.” Edward said immediately and a bit louder then he intended. 

The kid’s face screwed itself into a look of confused disbelief. Edward’s finger tangled around the fabric that was on the bed as he said “You know my history. I doubt Batman let’s his sidekicks fight against his enemies without knowing something about us, and our files are not exactly on lock down.”

“Yeah, your dad was an abusive asshole.” The kid said. 

Edward can’t help but smile just a tad upon hearing that. Childish as it may be Edward got a kick out of hearing someone else call his bastard of a father an asshole.

“Yes, well then you know that I’m pretty familiar with abuse. Getting smacked, using cigarettes to burn me, and getting a beer bottle thrown in my general direction were just a few of the ways that I was hurt. My father used whatever he had on hand to hurt me.” Edward said. 

He could feel a few memories bubbling to the surface now just by mentioning the few ways his father had hurt him. Edward gritted his teeth together as he tried his best to shove the uncomfortable memories back into the dark recesses of his mind. 

_‘Not now.’_ A tiny voice whispered in his mind in an almost frenzied tone. _‘Now is not a good time to go on a trip down misery lane.’_

Edward did his best to shove the memories of his father away as he looked down at the bed.

Edward didn’t know what the kid was thinking now as he watched Edward cling to the sheets with a vice grip while looking like he was physically in pain, and honestly Edward didn’t want to know. He kept his eyes glued to the ground as he asked “Do you know what I hated just as much as my father using me as his punching bag?”

If the kid opened his mouth to respond Edward wouldn’t know. Edward wasn’t really looking for an answer from the kid, and he didn’t give the boy any time to give an answer.

“I hated the people who knew what my father was doing, but did nothing about it.” Edward sits up a bit straighter as he said “There were people who knew what my father did. They saw the bruises and the scratches on my skin. They heard my father’s yelling. The thin walls of my childhood home did nothing to block out the sound.”

Edward can feel his rage bubbling as he said “They knew, but they never did anything about it. They either figured it wasn’t there problem, or that they didn’t have the right to break up a ‘family’. My own mother did nothing about it, and she saw the abuse with her own eyes.” 

Edward knew that his rage at it all was dripping from every word as he said “My mother never did anything about it. She would always just gently remind me that my father had a long day, and if I could maybe stop asking so many questions he wouldn’t hit me so much. Not that it mattered what she said. She couldn’t stand to see her once ‘loving’ husband be so abusive so she left when I was still in first grade.”

A bitter smile crossed Edward’s face as he said “Of course she didn’t think to take me with her when she left.” 

The smiled faded quickly as he said “People whispered about what went on in my house. A few were able to bring themselves to ask questions, but my father would just tell them a little white lie. Oh, Eddie is just a little klutzy or Eddie had a run in with bullies.” 

Edward looks up at the kid only to see that the kid is looking at him with wide blue eyes. His face his completely blank of emotion, but his eyes are big and filled with so many emotions that Edward couldn't really figure out what the kid was feeling. The feeling of shock that Edward was dumping all of this info on him was probably there of that Edward had no doubt.

Edward felt a bit bad to be unloading this all on the kid now, but once the trauma train started running Edward had a hard time stopping it sometimes. It was part of the reason why he tried to avoid talking about his childhood at all costs. It was pretty easy to avoid doing so at Arkham. Most of the psychologists were easily distracted. Heck, when it came Dr. Penelope Young all Edward had to do was to start acting unbearably smug and she would end the session a couple minutes early in frustration. 

“I hated how these people knew what was going on, but they didn’t do anything about it. I grew to hate those people almost as much as I hated my dad. Any grown adult who doesn’t help a child being beaten within an inch of their life due to not wanting to stir up trouble is just as bad as the abuser as far as I’m concerned.” Edward said. “Once I grew up I swore that I would never be like them. If I saw a child being hurt like that I would stop it.”

Edward shifted slightly in his seat as he said “I’m not going to pretend that I’m some sort of saint because I’m not, but I will tell you that there are some lines that even I won’t cross. You were a child being hurt so I helped.”

“I’m not a child.” The boy muttered.

Edward couldn’t help but snort in disbelief upon hearing that. “Please, you are what? Thirteen? Maybe fourteen years old at most?”

“I’m almost fifteen.” The kid mutters as he crosses his arms. 

The pressure of his arms against each other seems to irritate his wounds because the boy winches and slowly moves his arms so that they are resting at his sides once again. 

Edward doesn’t comment on that and instead said “You aren’t old enough to drive yet. Hate to break it to you, but you are still a kid.” 

The second Robin frowned a bit at that answer, but didn’t argue with him. 

Instead the boy just asked in disbelief “So that’s it? That’s the only reason why you save me?” 

He’s sure that the kid is waiting for some sort of catch to come up, but there is no catch. There is no ulterior motive behind this, and there was no favor that Edward was tried to fulfill. There was a kid in danger so he saved the kid. That was it.

“A kid was being tortured by an insane clown. I had the ability to save the kid so I saved the kid.” Edward said. “It’s the truth, but you are free to disbelieve that I did this out of the goodness of my heart if you want. It doesn’t matter to me.” 

The kid stares at him and Edward stares right back. From the corner of his eye he can see that it’s almost midnight. He’s exhausted, and he’s really hoping that the boy didn’t have any more questions.

“Now what?” The kid asks.

“If you are asking that does that mean that this is your last question?” 

“It’s the last question for now.” The boy said all while putting extra emphasis on the words ‘for now’. 

If the kid came up with any more questions apparently he wouldn’t waste any time in asking them. 

Edward shrugged a little at that as he thought _‘Fair enough.’_

Edward leaned backs slightly as he said “Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t plan much beyond getting you out of Arkham and somewhere safe. I figured it was best to get you out of there as soon as possible instead of leaving you to face more torture.” 

The kid looked away slightly upon hearing that while Edward said “It’s late so I would rather get some sleep first before we have this conversation. We need to figure out if you want to contact Batman, and if you do want to contact him then we have to figure out how you want to contact him.”

The thought that the kid might not want to contact Batman at all briefly flashed into Edward’s head, but he didn’t dwell on it for very long. They could figure all that out in the morning. The kid seemed to think about it for a few moments before he slowly nodded.

“Alright, I can wait till morning.” The boy said. “You went to all that trouble to get me out of Arkham so I doubt you will try to kill me in my sleep.” 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Edward muttered as he slid off of the bed. 

“I’ll sleep on the couch tonight, and you can have the bed.” Edward said. 

“You aren’t making me sleep on the couch?” The kid said in surprise as he slid himself back onto the bed.

“Not with your injuries.” Edward said as he stayed by the bed just so that he could be there if the kid needed help. 

The kid just gave him a disbelieving look while Edward just frowned as he said “I’m not heartless.” 

The kid continued to give him a disbelieving look while Edward muttered “OK, I’m not completely heartless.” 

That got a small smile from the kid, but that quickly disappeared in favor of getting comfortable in the bed. Edward left the side of his bed so that he could yank some more blankets out of the closet for himself. 

As he chucked the blankets onto his small couch he asked the kid “Hey, the bed has two pillows can you toss me the second one?”

It only took two seconds for Edward to get a pillow chucked into his head. Edward winched a little getting smacked in the back of the head with a pillow. Say what you want about the kid’s physical state, but apparently he still had enough strength to hurt someone with a pillow of all things.

“Thanks.” Edward muttered as he dropped the pillow onto the couch and started to make his way to the light switch.

“No problem.” 

Upon hearing that Edward got the distinct impression that the kid was smiling somewhat smugly behind his back, but Edward didn’t dare turn around to see if he was actually doing that. Once Edward flicked the lights out he walked over to the couch and allowed himself to flop onto it. The couch let out a few squeaks of protest upon having Edward fling himself onto it, but Edward ignored that as he pulled his sheets over himself. 

“Good night I guess.” Edward said out loud into the darkness of the room.

“I guess?” 

“I don’t know it’s what you say to others before you go to sleep isn’t it?” 

“Yeah, but most people don’t add I guess to it.” The kid pointed out. 

“I don’t exactly get to say it to many people OK?!” 

A snort of disbelief and slight amusement was the reply that Edward got in response. It was quiet for just long enough that Edward thought the conversation was finally over, but just when Edward was about to fall asleep he heard the kid speak again. “I’m practically having a slumber party with the freaking Riddler. It’s fucking weird.” 

It was Edward’s turn to snort an amusement as he said “You are preaching to the choir kid. I think it’s weird to have a Robin spend the night at one of my bases.”

“Glad I’m not the only one who thinks it’s weird as hell.” The second Robin said, and with that the conversation for the night officially ended.

Edward was more than happy to end it there, and he was happy that he could finally get some sleep. He wasn’t worried about anything happening tonight. The kid was way too week and injured to go walking out of the building. Sure, he could try and in any other situation he probably would but the kid seemed content enough to stay here for now. Every single technologic item that he had was locked down with everything that he could think of to keep noisy Robins out of his stuff. He had his security system set up so he didn’t have to worry about anyone breaking in, and as far as anyone was concerned it was just an abandoned building that didn’t have anything interesting in it anyway. The place was pretty much locked down tight in every way that Edward could think of.

The kid seemed to be acting pretty great for a guy that had just been saved from Joker, but Edward figured it was only a matter of time before the haze of finally being saved faded away and the trauma really started to set in. However, for now everything was fine and Edward was pretty confident that they would have a peaceful night…. 

\-------------------------------------------------------

Edward woke up to the sound of the second Robin screaming bloody murder.

_‘Figures we wouldn’t have a peaceful night.’_ Edward thought as he scrambled off of the couch. 

Edward flicks the lights on before he turns to look at the second Robin. The kid was thrashing around in the bed hard like he was trying to fend off some sort of invisible attacker. He was screaming so loud that Edward was pretty damn sure that half the block could hear him, and if he didn’t know any better he would think the kid was actually being murdered. The bed sheets were twisted around his legs so much that they were keeping them pinned together, and the total inability to kick his legs around seemed to be causing him to panic even more then he probably would have if his legs had been free. 

The violent movement had caused some of the kid’s wounds to open up. Some of his bandaged were stained heavily with blood. A few of the bandages had been ripped off due to the kid’s movements which meant that his sheets were getting stained too. Edward really hoped the kid didn’t pop any of his stitches. The lights did absolutely nothing to wake him which meant that Edward was going to have to find some way of getting the kid wake up. God, he really didn’t know what to do here. He never had to wake up someone who was freaking out like this before. The few times he had dreams this bad himself he had to deal with it on his own. When Edward gets close he can hear a few words mixed in with the mindless screaming.

“No!” The boy yells. “Stay away from me!”

“Wake up kid! You aren’t in danger!” Edward calls out over the screaming as he gently shakes the boy’s shoulder. 

Edward stumbled back when the response that he got was the boy trying to slug him in the face. He was able to avoid the hit, but in exchange he fell to the ground with a loud bang. He winched when his head banged against the ground. Luckily, he wasn’t that far from the ground so while it hurt like hell he at least didn’t have a concussion. Edward laid there on the ground with his eyes closed and pondered if just throwing some cold water on the kid would be more effective. 

Edward didn’t get time think about that plan for long because the kid’s screaming seemed to have just stopped. Edward cracked his eyes open only to see that the second Robin was staring down at him with wide frenzied eyes. Edward just stared back up at him unsure of what to say. 

Eventually the kid was able to murmur out “It was real.”

Edward gave the kid a confused look, but decided not to dwell on what he said. He could think about it and all of the implications that those words carried on a later date. 

He stood up and said “Kid, we need to change your bandages.” 

The kid looked down at the bloody bandages that covered his body before looking back over at Edward with those wide eyes of his. It was like he was catatonic or something. Edward just ignored the silence as he went about checking the boy’s injuries out while exchanging his bloody bandages for clean ones. The kid didn’t say a word as Edward did this, and Edward had to admit it was a bit creepy. The kid wasn’t a chatterbox or anything, but he had been a little chatty. The dead silence was worrying, but Edward didn’t know what he could do about it. 

Once he was done treating the wounds he had to move the kid off the bed so that he could change the sheets again. He was out of bed sheets so he ended up having to use the ones that he had been using for himself. Not that it mattered much. He had a throw blanket on the couch that he could use for himself. Once that was done and the kid was once again on the bed Edward took a quick glance at the clock on the bedside table. 

**2:00 A.M.**

He glanced back over at the kid and asked “You think you can get back to sleep anytime soon?” 

The kid just shook his head no.

 _‘Well, at least he’s communicating with me.’_ Edward thought with some relief. 

He was unsure of what to do now. Edward thought for a moment before something came to mind.

“Firefly.”

The kid tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion as Edward kept talking.

“The TV show Firefly. I like Firefly. Do you like Firefly? We can spend the rest of the night watching that if you want.”

Edward was totally aware of the fact that he was babbling a bit. The kid just stared at him for a moment before he said “OK.” 

Edward felt a bit relived when he heard the kid talk. His voice was a little hoarse, but after screaming his lungs out a few minutes ago it was to be expected. Edward immediately started setting his TV up for their sudden Firefly marathon.

Once he got that set up and started the first episode he was more than content to just sit on the couch he heard the kid ask “Sit with me?”

There was a hint of begging in his tone, and a look of desperation on his face. Edward wordlessly walked over to the bed and plopped down in the office chair that was next to the bed. Once Edward was sitting down the kid slowly reached out toward Edward. He kept taking quick glances at Edward as if he was waiting to see the man snap, but Edward never did. Edward just watched as the boy wrapped his hand around Edward’s right wrist. 

Once he had a grip on Edward he completely relaxed and allowed himself to lay down in such in angle that he could still see the TV. The kid’s grip was strong, but not painful. However, Edward was very aware of the fact that it would take some effort to make the kid let go of him. It was almost like he was afraid that if he let Edward go the man would disappear. There was a very real likelihood that Edward’s presence helped to assure the kid that he was indeed away from the Joker and somewhere safe. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the kid had a nightmare about his time with Joker. 

At any rate whatever the kid’s reasoning was Edward wasn’t going to ask about it now. If clinging to Edward’s wrist gave him some sort of comfort he was more than happy to sit there and comply. The Firefly marathon was pretty short. The kid lasted a single episode before he ended up falling asleep. However, even in his sleep he kept an iron grip on Edward’s wrist. Edward watched him for a moment before he slumped in his seat. The sound of the guitar from the theme song filled the air while the singer’s voice echoed in the room.

_Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand. I don’t care I’m still free. You can’t take the sky from me…_

Edward let out a sigh as he snatched the controller off of the nearby computer desk and turned the TV off. Firefly had served its purpose in helping to calm the kid so it was no longer needed, and truthfully Edward really wasn’t in the right mood or mindset right now to listen to ‘The Ballad Of Serenity’. He flung the controller onto the couch before he leaned head back against his seat and closed his eyes.

 _‘I really have no idea what in the hell I am doing now.’_ He thought.

He saved the kid, and treated his wounds. Now he was in uncharted territory. Edward was no expert when it came to comforting traumatized people. The kid had been relatively calm for the most part so the nighttime freak out had been a bit unexpected. He knew it was going to happen, but he hadn’t expected it to happen like that. He also hadn’t been expecting the second Robin to use him of all people as a sort of security blanket. Yet, here he was sitting in a chair with the second Robin clinging to his wrist. 

Edward sighed as he thought _‘Life is full of surprises I suppose.’_

He was all too aware of the fact that he was clueless about what would happen in his immediate future. He didn’t know what would happen in the morning, and he didn’t know if the second Robin would have anymore nightmares tonight. However, if nothing else Edward did know that he wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight…..


	3. Call me Jason

When Edward woke up he was aware of two things. The first thing was the fact that his back ached badly. The second thing was the fact that he could feel a firm hand still wrapped tightly around his wrist. Edward cracked his eyes open only to be greeted by the sight of the second Robin’s hand still clinging onto his wrist like it was a lifeline.

 _‘I’m a little amazed that he actually kept a hold of my wrist through the whole night.’_ Edward thought as he tried to pry the Robin’s hand off of his wrist.

While the kid’s grip was tight Edward was able to free himself without too much difficulty. The kid frowned in his sleep once Edward was free, but other then twitching his fingers a little the kid made no other movement. The kid looked as stiff as a board, and if it wasn’t for the relaxed look on his face Edward would have had a very hard time telling if the kid was actually comfortable. Edward glanced over at the clock to see what time it was.

**8:25 A.M.**

_‘Good as time as any to get up.’_ Edward thought as he stood up.

He stretched and winched a little as his back let him know that sleeping in an office chair the way may not have been the greatest idea. Edward did his best to ignore the aches as he shoved his office chair back into its place at his desk. Letting the kid cling to his arm seemed to help him sleep though the night so Edward couldn’t say it wasn’t worth doing. The kid needed a couple good nights sleep and if Edward had to sleep in an uncomfortable chair to help the kid get that he would do it. He might complain a bit, but he would do it.

Once the chair was back in place Edward briefly considered the idea of waking the kid up only to shoot the idea down almost as fast as it came up. It was best to let the kid sleep as long as he could. Edward slowly shuffled into the kitchen and started searching to see what he could make for breakfast. He found the things needed for chocolate chip pancakes which was exactly what Edward was craving. Edward always loved sweet things, and homemade pancakes with chocolate chips in them were right up his alley. For a brief second Edward wondered if the second Robin even liked chocolate chip pancakes, but Edward quickly decided that he didn’t care. With everything that Edward was doing for the kid he deserved to be able to have one of his favorite breakfast items. If the kid didn’t like pancake he could just deal with it and have cereal.

Edward was silent as he got to work on making the pancakes. He was careful when he got everything out to make the food so he wouldn’t accidentally wake the kid up. Periodically Edward would glance over at the boy just to make sure that the kid was still asleep. The kid seemed to be dead to the world. Not that Edward really expected him to be anything else. It had probably been ages since the last time the kid slept in a bed, and even with that nightmare last night Edward felt pretty confident in thinking that this was the most restful sleep that the kid had in ages. He was catching up on all the sleep that he missed out on while being trapped with the Joker.

Edward was pretty sure that the sound of plastic bowls being placed down on the counter would not wake him up, but he didn’t want to push his luck. Somehow Edward was able to keep the noise to a minimum, and it was only when he was finishing up the last of the pancakes did the boy finally awaken. The sound of the bed creaking and fabric rustling was what tipped Edward off to the fact that the kid was awake. Edward looked over at the kid just in time to see him sit up. The boy yawned and looked over at Edward only to blink owlishly at him.

“Good morning.” Edward said with a smile.

“Morning.” The boy murmured.

Edward turned his attention back to the pancakes, and as he was sliding the last of the pancakes onto a plate he heard the boy ask “What are you making?”

“Chocolate chip pancakes. Is that alright?”

“That’s fine. I like pancakes.” The boy answered.

 _‘Thank god for that.’_ Edward thought.

Edward glanced back over at the boy only to almost drop his spatula in surprise when he saw the boy get up from the bed. He wobbled a little just standing there, and while he was able to take a few unstable steps forward his legs ended up giving out on him. Luckily for the boy Edward was able to catch him before he cracked his skull open on his computer desk.

“You really need to know your limits.” Edward said as he helped the kid wrap his arm around Edward’s shoulder.

The kid just glared down at his legs and almost growled out “This is pathetic. I should at least be able to walk.”

“Did he let you walk often?” Edward asked as he carefully lead the kid into the kitchen.

The kid was able to walk pretty well with support, but his legs still wobbled a little. Edward mentally added possibly adding crutches to a list of things to get the boy. If the boy was going to be staying with Edward for longer than a day then he was going to need things, and it was starting to look like crutches might be a good investment.

The boy shook his head and said “Not really. Most of the time he just kept me chained to a chair, or hanging from a hook. Sometimes he would let me walk around a bit, but it wasn’t often.”

“You haven’t walked often so your legs so they aren’t as strong as they should be. Walking around for a couple of days should be enough to build the strength back up.” Edward said as he helped the kid slip into one of the chairs that was at his kitchen table.

“It’s worth a shot. I’m not a physical therapist though, so I’m just guessing here.” Edward said. “You didn’t get your leg broken or anything, right?”

“Nope.” The kid answered.

“Then it should be fine. You walk pretty well with support. If you don’t improve after a couple of days, we can get you checked out at a clinic somewhere. I can have one of my boys bring you so we don’t get caught.” Edward said as he started to grab the pancakes off of the counter and place them down on the table.

“I don’t want to go to Leslie Tompkins clinic.” The boy said suddenly.

Edward had to think for a second to even figure out who the kid was talking about, but he ended up remembering. Leslie was a woman who ran a free clinic that treated pretty much anyone who walked through the front door. Due to the fact that the clinic was willing to provide healthcare for anyone most criminals left the place alone. It was nice have a place that you could go to and know that they would treat you and not just let you bleed out. Edward had never gone there personally, but a few of his men had been there.

“Why don’t you want to go there?” Edward asked.

“Leslie knows me.” Was all that the boy said.

“I see.” Edward said as he handed the kid an empty plate.

Edward didn’t ask what the kid’s ties to the woman was. If the kid wanted to tell him he would tell him.

Instead of asking about Leslie Edward just asked “Is orange juice okay, or do you want milk?”

“Orange juice.” The boy answered.

Edward set out to get the kid his orange juice. A peaceful silence fell upon them as Edward started setting the rest of the breakfast items up. The second Robin wasted no time in placing five pancakes on his plate, and the second Edward put the maple syrup on the table the kid snatched it away and proceed to drown his pancakes in syrup. However, the kid didn’t dare start to dig in until Edward had put his plate together and sat down at the table himself.

It was only after Edward took a bite of his own pancakes did the kid finally dig in. The boy ate his food like a starving wild animal. It wasn’t exactly pleasant to watch, but Edward just did his best to avert his gaze. This was probably the first home cooked meal that the kid has had in a long time. Edward wasn’t going to judge him too harshly for enjoying something that he probably thought he would never have again. Eventually after the kid had stuffed about four pancakes down his gullet he slowed down and started to eat a bit more normally.

The kid let out a continued sigh and said “Damn these pancakes are good.”

Edward couldn’t help but smile a little as he asked “Like my pancakes, huh?”

The kid’s eyes practuilly lit up as he enthusiastically exclaimed “Yeah, they are just as good as….”

Edward frowned when the boy suddenly fell silent without warning. The boy looked down at his food, and his short burst of energy disappeared as fast as it appeared.

“Just as good as what?” Edward eventually asked after a few seconds had passed.

“They are just as good as the pancakes that someone I used to know made.” The kid answered slowly.

 _‘Who is this someone?’_ Edward thought.

Edward struggled over if he should ask or not, but in the end his inquisitive nature won out.

“Want to tell me about this someone?” Edward asked.

The boy struggled over what to say for a few seconds, but eventually he finally said “This guy I know. He was kind of like a grandfather and a father rolled into one.”

“You miss him?”

“Yeah, I want to see him again.” The kid answered sadly.

“Is seeing him what you want to do now that you are free?” Edward asked. “We do have to figure out what you want to do with yourself now.”

The kid looked thoughtful upon hearing that, but after a few seconds had passed the kid shook his head.

“No, before I can see him I need to talk to Batman. I have questions that only he can answer.”

The kid placed his fork down and said “I don’t want to talk to him while being wrapped up like a mummy and bleeding all over the place. When I talk to him I want to be completely recovered. I won’t look week in front of him.”

Edward wondered if he should comment on the week comment, but he decided that he wasn’t going to touch that possibly ticking time bomb.

“Doing that means you will have to stay with me for a couple of days if not a week or two till your healed up enough to face him. Are you alright with that?” Edward asked.

“Yeah, I’m alright with that.” The kid said without any hesitation. “You risked your ass just to save mine, so I’m not worried about you killing me in my sleep or anything like that.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Edward said with a bit of sarcasm.

As Edward took a bite of his food he started trying to figure out what they needed for the second Robin’s stay there. Edward was really going to need to restock the kitchen. Enough that he could make home cooked meals during a majority of the kid’s stay here. The kid wasn’t skeletal, but he was way too thin. He needed to get back up to a healthy weight.

 _‘Maybe get him some vitamins too?’_ Edward thought with a frown.

The kid was going to need clothes too. There was no way any of this clothing would fit the boy. Edward was sure he had a shirt and a pair of pants somewhere that the kid might be able to fit into, but the boy couldn’t wear that for a week straight. He was going to have to make a list. He would have the kid add whatever he thought he needed to the list. There was also one thing that Edward needed to know about the kid if he was going to be staying with him.

“What should I call you?”

The kid just looked at him upon hearing that as he slowly moved his cup away from his mouth.

“I’ve been mentally calling you kid or boy. I can’t keep calling you that.” Edward explained.

The kid continued to say nothing. He just continued to stare at Edward with his mouth set in a straight thin line. It was a little freaky if Edward was being honest.

“Should I call you Robin?” Edward asked.

“No!”

Edward jumped a little upon hearing the sudden shout. It was the loudest that the kid had ever gotten. Even the boy looked surprised at just how loud he had been. It seems he hadn’t meant to say that with such force. The boy looked down at the table with a frown. He wasn’t shaking with rage, but he was clearly angry.

“That’s not my name anymore. Batman gave that title to someone else.” The boy eventually grumbled out.

Well, Edward understood the yelling now. Edward wished he could say something to comfort the boy, but honestly Edward had never been great at comforting people. Edward felt like whatever he said would just make the kid madder. Edward couldn’t explain why Batman gave the title of Robin away so soon after the second Robin disappeared. He couldn’t tell this kid why Batman didn’t let the title die with him and just give this new sidekick a new name. He didn’t have any answers, or any comforting words to say that would magically make everything better. All he could do was just pretend he never heard what the kid said and just ask his question yet again.

“So what do you want to be called then?”

The boy looked like he was debating over what to say to that, but after a solid five minutes had passed by the boy let out a loud annoyed sounding sigh.

“Fuck it. Joker already knows who I am so what’s the point in keeping it a secret?” The kid muttered out.

He looked up at Edward and said “My name is Jason Todd.”

“Jason Todd…” Edward said slowly.

Strange, that name was ringing a bell in Edward’s head. He had heard the name before, but he couldn't remember where.

“You know I’m going to look your name up, right?” Edward asked.

“I know.” The now named Jason said.

He looked rather resigned to his fate. It seemed the kid didn't think keeping his name a secret mattered anymore. Although, the kid did say that Joker already knew his name. If that was the case Edward couldn’t blame him for being like that. If Joker knew there was no stopping him from telling other villains who the second Robin was if he ever felt like it. Although, there was a chance he wouldn’t do that. Joker’s relationship with the other villains was turbulent at the best of times.

Still, it was never safe to assume anything with the Joker. Edward allowed his thoughts about the Joker to drop as he stood up and went to fetch his cellphone from the next room. Jason said nothing about him leaving, and he continued to stay silent even when Edward returned to the kitchen with phone in hand. He just watched as Edward brought up the internet so that he could look up Jason’s name.

Edward honestly wasn’t expecting to find much. At best he thought he would find one of Jason’s old social media stuff and maybe an old missing person's report that was filled out for him. Jason looked like a kid who could have played some sort of major sport, so finding his name in an article about some local school's sports team was also a possibility. Surprisingly, Edward didn’t get any of that. Instead he got a list of articles that seemed to be focused on Jason himself. Edward took a quick glance at the list and read the titles of a few of the articles.

_Bruce Wayne to create charity group in honor of his deceased son Jason._

_Another Wayne Tragedy: Bruce Wayne’s missing son Jason Todd confirmed to be dead._

_Wayne offering reward to anyone who can find his missing son Jason Todd._

_Youngest Wayne child Jason gone missing on the day of Joker’s recent massacre of a school full of children. Police unsure of if there is a connection._

_Wayne adopts yet another child into the Wayne family._

Edward didn’t know what to think when he saw that Jason was apparently the son of Bruce Wayne of all people. It explained why his name was so familiar sounding. Edward could feel his mind start to race as he felt a single question try to fight its way out of his mouth. Somehow from sheer force of will he was able to keep himself from asking it. Deep down he was sure he already knew the answer. All of the articles that he could see were rather old. The article about the charity in Jason’s name was the newest one there and that was about a month old. Edward shakily choose the ‘Another Wayne Tragedy’ from the list of articles and started reading.

_Tragedy has stricken the Wayne family once again. Jason Todd, Bruce’s Wayne’s son who went missing last Spring, has finally been declared dead. While officials have been rather tight lipped about the investigation police have revealed that the vigilante Batman had received a tape of the brutal torture and murder of Jason. While the tape is said to have stayed in Batman’s custody the police do have some of the audio files from the tape. Said files are tightly locked up, and Commissioner Gordon was quoted saying the files would never be released to the public to hear._

_Some have questioned if the body has also been recovered, but police have refused to comment on this. Bruce Wayne also refused to comment on the case. Instead all he asked was that people respect his family’s wishes to morn in peace._

The article then went on to talk about how the theory that Joker kidnapped Jason on the same day as Joker’s massacre of an Elementary school. Edward didn't read that part. He had already read enough horror stories of that day. The grim tales of grieving parents wailing in heartbreak as they tried to gather up the broken pieces of their dead children was something that everyone in Gotham had the misfortune of hearing.

Why that event didn’t earn Joker a one-way ticket to an electric chair Edward would never know. He cut his train of thought off before it could go any further. There was no reason to go over the reasons why he hated the demented clown this early in the morning. Doing so would just leave him feeling angry for the rest of the day. Edward placed his phone down on the table and looked up at Jason.

 __“__ Are you the Jason Todd that Bruce Wayne adopted _ _?”_ _

It was a stupid question really, but Edward wasn’t asking it because he didn’t know the answer. Edward was asking it so that Jason could confirm what Edward already knew.

“I am.”

Edward nodded and then asked the one question that had been buzzing around in his head for a while now.

“Is Batman Bruce Wayne?”

Jason was silent for a moment before he finally said “I think you already know the answer to that question.”

Edward was silent for a moment before he let out a loud groan. He moved his plate out of the way and just put his head down on the table.

Bruce Wayne was Batman.

Bruce Wayne was freaking **Batman**.

“I knew he was Batman!” Edward eventually yells out.

Jason says nothing to that and Edward just continued ranting.

“They are the same height, they both have the exact same color of blue eyes, they have the same body build, and Bruce Wayne has a vendetta against criminals due to losing his parents in a mugging. He’s one of the few people who could afford Batman’s gadgets. I mean the Batmobile has to be worth 9 million dollars alone, and he’s one of the few people in the world who could actually afford the damn thing. God, it’s so obvious!”

Edward quickly lifted his head up and looked at Jason as he said “You know what the worst part is? I already figured this out! Back before I became the Riddler and Batman stuck me with the title of Enigma I was putting together a file to prove that Bruce Wayne was Batman, but I ended up second guessing myself and I tossed it!”

“Why did you do that?” Jason asked in curiosity.

The kid actually sounded like he was generally interested in knowing why.

“I did that because Bruce Wayne in person seemed like such an idiot! There was this charity event being held for the police force and I had to attend because at the time I was working for the police. Bruce acted like such a braindead idiot that had to have me explain everything just so that he could understand what the hell I was saying! I figured if he was that stupid there was no way he could be Batman. Of course it was all an act!” Edward explained before he placed his head back down on the table.

Jason hesitated for a moment before he said “Are you OK?”

“I feel conflicted.” Was Edward’s only reply.

Edward was feeling a mixture of emotions right now. He felt happy that he had been correct about Bruce being Batman from the start. He felt angry and a bit foolish for letting Bruce fool him so easily and make him second guess his first theory. He felt pure unbridled joy at knowing the one thing that none of the other villains could figure out. Strangely, he also felt a bit hollow too.

Figuring out Batman’s identity kind of ruined a bit of the mystery about him. Batman was not as enigmatic as he used to be now. The only thing that Edward could think to describe it as was to say that figuring out that Batman was Bruce Wayne was a bit like how kids figure out that Santa is just their parents. A bit of the magic was gone. Edward was so thrilled with just knowing the world’s biggest secret that he didn’t care _that_ much that the mystery was gone, but that strange feeling was still there.

Edward was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Jason ask “Are you going to tell the other villains who Batman is?”

“No, I won’t.” Edward said as he lifted his head up.

Jason looked a bit surprised upon hearing that, and before he could ask why Edward wouldn’t do so he started explaining.

“We villains aren’t exactly friends. We are willing to work together to try to beat Batman or achieve some goal, but we don’t work together because we like each other or anything like that. I think the only villains that are friends are Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. I don’t like a majority of the villains, and I’m sure that most of them just barely tolerate me. I don’t tell them things unless they pay me, or them knowing something somehow helps me.”

Edward then shrugged as he said “Besides I just wanted to figure out who Batman was because to me it was one of the world’s greatest riddle. I didn’t solve it because I wanted to shout the answer from the rooftops. A riddle that everyone knows the answer to is worthless after all. It was a question to solve, and I solved it. That's it.”

“So will knowing who he is change any of your plans?” Jason asked.

Edward shrugged and said “For now not really no, but that could possibly change one day. It’s not like I have to do much to get Batman to take on my challenges, so the threat of reveling his identity is not needed. I guess I know where to mail my challenges to if I’m feeling lazy and don’t want to use Gordon as a messenger. For the most part I’ll probably use the fact that I know who he is to drive Batman crazy."

Edward thought for a moment, but suddenly an idea hit him.

Edward couldn’t help but smirk as he said “However, there is one thing. When you confront Batman I want to be able to rub Batman’s face into the fact that I know who he is That sound alright with you?”

Edward was hoping it was alright, but even if it wasn't Edward was going to find some way to let Batman know that his secret identity wasn't so secret anymore. Maybe it was petty, but Edward just really wanted to screw with Batman. If the smirk Jason had on his face was anything to go by Edward was assuming that Jason was fine with Edward doing what he wanted. It was mischievous looking, but it seemed slightly bitter as well. The bitterness seemed more geared toward Batman then Edward.

Jason picked his cup full of orange juice up and said “I think I’ll be just fine with that.”

Edward allowed his smirk to turn into a grin upon hearing that. Oh, he was already looking forward to letting Batman know that Riddler knew who he was. Edward knew Batman just well enough to know that Batman would be driven crazy by the fact that Edward knew who he really was. It would be great. However, that wouldn't happen for a while now. For now, Edward had to focus on just getting through today and getting Jason healthy enough that they could actually confront Batman.

Edward just continued to smile as he said “Finish your breakfast Jason. Today is going to be a busy day….”


End file.
